Health Minister Abdulla Nazim has said that importing quality medicines is the priority rather than focusing on getting medicine from Europe, as announced by President Mohamed Muizzu.
Nazim told a press conference that the ministry's aim is to import quality medicines and that ensuring its quality is more important than the country of origin.
"A lot of medicines that are exported to Europe are also manufactured in India or Pakistan, or elsewhere. What matters here is not where it is manufactured. It is important to ensure that we get good quality medicines," he said.
"We are sorting out the steps that need to be taken to strengthen it. That is our focus. Our focus is not Europe or Asia."
Briefing the press upon his return from China in 2024, Muizzu said the government has decided to end the import of cheap medicine in favour of purchasing directly from Europe and America, where the medicine is produced.
"God willing, we will change things such that the import of common medicine will come to an end for us to import medicine directly from where it is manufactured in Europe and America," the President said.
In 2024, the government announced that it would import and sell seven drugs in the first phase of the importation of quality drugs approved by the health authorities of European countries.
However, recently, there have been complaints about the lack of availability of many basic medicines in the Maldives. Nazim had earlier said that efforts are being made to address the issue.
As of 2025, a total of 63 companies were granted permission to import medicines.
